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Eye-Popping Op Art

Eye-Popping Op Art

The op art works of Victor Vasarely will inspire students to create their own optical illusion paintings.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Paper
  • Ruler

Steps

  • Step 1

    Victor Vasarely (1906-1997) was a Hungarian-French artist and a leading figure in the op art movement. His characteristic style included painting geometric forms with interacting colors to suggest the feeling of movement through optical illusion. Have students research the op art movement and look at Vasarely's "Zebra" (1937), the work some consider to be one of the earliest examples of op art. Have them notice how the seemingly simple arrangement of black and white stripes start to look like they're moving as they continue to gaze at the image. Then have them view some examples of his colorful geometric works such as "Vega Anneaux" (1969) and his sculpture "Kezdi" (1988).

  • Step 2

    Optical illusions involve the brain's interpretation of visual information. Though MRIs have allowed scientists to analyze what happens in our brain when we look at illusions, there isn't a definitive conclusion as to how the illusions are created. Ask students to create a painting in the style of Vasarely using colorful geometric shapes to create an optical illusion. They should begin by sketching a design on paper either freehand or using a ruler.

  • Step 3

    When they're satisfied with the design sketch, have them create the optical illusion effect by filling the shapes with contrasting colors. They can use either paint or markers and should place very bright colors next to very dark colors. Using lighter shades of the bright color (which can be done by mixing a bit of white paint into another paint color or dipping the marker into water for a more dilute color saturation) will make parts of the art seem to stand out. Using darker shades of the color (by mixing a bit of black paint into another color of paint or using a full strength marker and adding several layers of marker ink on top of each other) will make it seem like parts of the art are receding.

Standards

ARTS: Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches.

ARTS: Speculate about processes an artist uses to create a work of art.

SCI: Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.

Adaptations

Bridget Riley (born in 1931) is an English op art painter known for her optical illusions. Have students research her life and view some examples of her work, such as "Blaze" (1964) and "Gala" (1974).

Have students look at some well known examples of optical illusions such as the Hermann grid which tricks your eyes into seeing dots that aren't there and the Hering illusion that makes two vertical lines appear to bend. Students can create their own illusion - the "rubber pencil" - by holding a pencil between their thumb and forefinger and wiggling it up and down, causing it to appear to be bending.